Few people travel to Russia so it gets peoples' attention when you tell them where you have been for the past couple weeks. They sincerely want to see photos and hear about the trip and it is more than just a nice gesture on their part. We had to have 5 "gatherings" here at the house to show off the photo album and explain all the educational values from the trip. Things like the population of the cities, where do people live, work and play, the traffic, the airport, cleanliness of the parks, streets and rivers are what I want to learn while there. Those are things I want to learn and the reason for my taking the trip.

Then you have the luxury of having many guided tours and events, all of which are very well planned and executed and if you don't learn from them, you aren't listening to your earphones or reading provided material ahead of time.

And at the end of the day, you have the pampering from the crew on the ship. All the crew members on this cruise were outstanding from the wait staff to the housekeeping. The food was GREAT, well presented and ample in quantity. Read more